Manalapan/Englishtown Will Have Memorial Day Ceremony, Parade

MANALAPAN, N.J.— The township Memorial Day ceremony will be at 1:45 p.m. Monday, May 30, at the Manalapan Township Walk of Honor, followed by the return of the Englishtown-Manalapan Memorial Day Parade.

The parade will begin at 2 p.m. A dedication at the Manalapan Veterans Monument will be held, followed by the start of the parade at the corner of Freehold Road and Taylor Mills Road Manalapan. A dedication will then take place at the Englishtown Veterans Monument (Main Street) and concludes at the JFK Memorial at the American Legion Post # 434 (11 Sanford Street, Manalapan, NJ 07726), organizers said.

The parade is being held in cooperation with: American Legion Molly Pitcher Post No. 434; Englishtown borough and Englishtown Community Development Committee; Manalapan Township, Englishtown first responders; civic organizations of Englishtown and Manalapan.

The Grand Marshal is Korean War-era U.S. Navy Veteran John F. Espinos, Sr., organizers said. He will be appearing in a 1968 Cadillac Convertible, with thanks to Kevin Miller.

Other features of the parade include the following:

• First Responders from Manalapan and Englishtown In the Heavy Trucks and Vehicles.
• Police Color Guard (Perth Amboy Police Honor Guard).
• Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts of Englishtown and Manalapan.
• Classic cars from the Antique Motoring Club of Monmouth County (Special Thanks to Harold Mermel) and Regency Car Club.

Memorial Day honors the men and women who died while serving in the U.S. military. It was originally known as Decoration Day and originated in the years following the Civil War, according to History.com. It became an official federal holiday in 1971.